comment #1

Nick Rogers says ...

What a great read. Rex Reed is a putz.

comment #2

Devin Faraci says ...

haha Rex was just as gloriously catty at the NYFCO voting yesterday. Kept me in stitches.

comment #3

Gabriel says ...

So Jeff, do you still respect Rex Reed for laying his always-passionate, sometimes fierce opinions on the line this time?

This guy needs to get his critic card taken away before he hurts himself.

comment #4

EDouglas says ...

But you have to admit that it keeps things entertaining. I personally love Rex and that old-school mentality of hating everything for the sake of reminding everyone why you're a film critic. I gotta say that reading the bit about Happy Feet vs. Scanner Darkly, it made our revote for Ensemble Cast seem like nothing...and that was probably the only moment of controversy we had. Maybe I'm biased, but I think the voting system I devised was a huge success as a number of members who have never been happy after a meeting seemed fine with the results....and we got done in 3 hours even with the controversies.

comment #5

Devin Faraci says ...

Yeah, but you guys are still way wrong about what is an ensemble.

comment #6

EDouglas says ...

Oh, right... I forgot Mr. "We can't consider The Queen an ensemble cast because I only know the names of the two stars" :P (I hope you'll be standing outside SAG headquarters with a picket sign when they nominate it as well.)

comment #7

JD says ...

Regarding the Sarris anecdote, it is kind of lame that even the critics groups refuse to give their animation awards to adult-oriented films. That said, I haven't seen Happy Feet so maybe it's even better than A Scanner Darkly (but I doubt it). And seriously, why is Army of Shadows eligible for these awards? Shouldn't it be in the "best old movie that happened to play in a few theaters this year" category?

comment #8

JD says ...

By the way, Rex Reed is totally wrong about United 93. Any uncompromising $15 million film with a cast of unknowns that grosses over $30 million domestic is hardly a film that "no one in America wanted to see." I mean, it clearly wasn't built to appeal to the Pirates of the Caribbean crowd, but it was a success on its own terms. And anyway, audiences vote with box office totals, not critics awards. Have a little vision, Rex. If anything, critics awards should be a punch in the face to middle-of-the-road, unadventurous moviegoers.

comment #9

kammy says ...

To EDouglas,
How does the voting system for NYFCC work? Please explain. Thanks!

comment #10

EDouglas says ...

Well, I'm not in NYFCC, but I expect it works the same way that we used to where everyone shows up at the meeting with their three choices in each category and their awarded points, 3 for 1st, 2 for 2nd, 1 for 1st and there's only a winner if there's the most points on the majority of ballots (i.e. if there are 22 voting members, the choice has to be on 12 ballots in any of the three places as well as have the most points to be a winner). If there isn't a winner, they'll do the same thing again, presuming that some will change their 3 choices after hearing others'. If there still isn't a winner, then it'll go down to 5 or 3 with the most points and they'll do it again (it seems like NYFCO does it 3,2,1 among those choice as well).

It's a very complicated process that often takes a long time and as we've seen from Reed's comments, it rarely leaves everyone or anyone happy.

comment #11

EDouglas says ...

"it seems like NYFCO does it 3,2,1 among those choice as well"

Correection, that should be NYFCC. NYFCO immediately goes to one choice once it goes beyond the first round.

comment #12

romeoisbleeding says ...

I guess I am the only one who cares but I think it truly sucks that Scanner Darkly was robbed of victory! This makes me wonder how random all of these so called big deal awards are? what is up with this anyway??? Someone goes to the bathroom and the movie loses! this sounds like a 3rd grade election for lunch room monitor! only I do think that situation would end up more fair. I am not happy about this at all.

comment #13

christian says ...

if anybody takes these things seriously...maybe if john simon were still available.

i mean rex reed should have been legally stopped from reviewing movies after his nauseating appearance in MYRA BRECKENRIDGE (picture reed thinking he was gonna be a star, baby!)...

comment #14

NYCritic says ...

Whatever happened to the veil of secrecy behind these awards? Imagine the uproar if the Oscars announced second & third place winners (how many recounts would be demanded?)

I feel it's a disgrace that someone would reveal these stories. I think an investigation is called for and that critic should be publicly identified and then made to resign.

EDouglas, I think you should be ashamed for revealing what NYFCO did as well.

comment #15

NYCritic says ...

And if you want to know how the New York Film Critics Circle's voting procedure works, check out its website. They explain the voting procedure in the bylaws.

http://www.nyfcc.com/bylaws.php

comment #16

romeoisbleeding says ...

Since the dawn of the internet and blackberries and cell phone cameras etc etc etc there is no more secrecy or privacy on even events like this. It makes the awards a joke really. I hope this story gets a lot of publicity.

comment #17

The Movie Man says ...

Call me crazy but Joe Public's opinion shouldn't be factored. If anything no one going to see United 93 should be a reason to vote it in and give it support.

comment #18

jeffmcm says ...

There must be some rules about what consistutes an 'ensemble cast'. Obviously a movie like A Prairie Home Companion or The Departed or United 93 would count because of their large casts with no clearly defined single lead, but would Sideways count with only four characters? Would Leaving Las Vegas count with two, or The Pianist with one lead and several supporting?
I would agree with Devin (I'm guessing) that since The Queen has a clearly defined lead in Mirren and a relatively small number of supporting cast (I can only think of Sylvia Sims, James Cromwell, and Michael Sheen) that it shouldn't qualify for the category.

comment #19

SteveC says ...

NYCritic: Get real. The NY circle is an organization of critics who get together and vote over several rounds and have openly discussed their runners up and what happened in voting in the past. The same thing is true of the other critic organizations.

The Oscars otoh are a straight tabulation of thousands of voters. That is also why it is stupid to see the critics awards as foretelling the Oscars. Apples and oranges.

comment #20

austin111 says ...

This is actually one year when I'm almost looking forward to the oscars as a kind of antidote to the critics, although there were a few decent picks in there. United 93 will be forgotten in a decade, though, as will The Queen. The Departed, on the other hand, will not be quite so forgotten.
But then that's fairly typical of these things.

comment #21

jeffmcm says ...

I checked and saw that United 93 has outgrossed past NYFCC winners Far From Heaven, Mulholland Drive, Topsy-Turvy, Fargo, Quiz Show, and The Player. So much for 'the movie that nobody wants to see'.

comment #22

christian says ...

i mean, there's a scene of reed masturbating. between bouts of mae west. so he decides the fate of a film.

comment #23

EDouglas says ...

"but would Sideways count with only four characters? "

I believe Sideways won SAG's Ensemble Cast award two years ago. My thing is that I see Ensemble as a way to award the cast as a whole and that it doesn't necessarily mean that all of them have to be in scenes together. In the Queen, you have Helen Mirren and her people, and Michael Sheen and her people. All of the people around them contribute greatly to the performance of the two leads and I think Ensemble is a way to award them for the contribution. It's a moot matter since The Queen didn't win in that category.

comment #24

EDouglas says ...

"And if you want to know how the New York Film Critics Circle's voting procedure works, check out its website. They explain the voting procedure in the bylaws.

http://www.nyfcc.com/bylaws.php"

Exactly..so what's the big fucking deal, NYCritic? (who's probably bitter that he's not in either group) I don't think I gave away any trade secrets by explaining how we vote. Heck, I created the system amid protests from all the old dogs who have to be force-fed change however obvious it is that the old systems aren't working.

comment #25

Argen says ...

I'm very much in favor of the creation of Best Cast Performance awards. (Even for the Oscars.) GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS was given one at Venice in '92. It would be a great way to recognize a film with an unusually solid cast.

But it would be different than an ensemble. In the instances I've seen awards like these, there are usually separate awards. Because a cast can be an ensemble, but it can also be just a portion of it. GGR would be an instance when the entire cast is an ensemble. But, say, in Apollo 13 the actors playing the NASA guys could be considered an ensemble, though the entire cast wouldn't be.

comment #26

Hallick says ...

This report pretty much confirms what a farce awards season has become (or probably always was).

It also sounds like every managers' meeting I ever attended when it was time to review the staff evaluations. Substitute the tussling over "United 93" getting a high score for a guy named Dave getting a raise, and there's my mid-years. Sheesh.

comment #27

christian says ...

don't forget reed dancing down hollywood blvd with raquel welch.

so what does reed think is a great film? do tell.

does he have a gong like he did on the gong show?